Systems and methods for processing objects

ABSTRACT

A processing system is disclosed for processing objects. The processing system includes a perception system for providing perception data regarding an object, and a primary transport system for providing transport of the object along a primary direction toward a processing location that is identified based on the perception data.

PRIORITY

The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 16/995,015, filed Aug. 17, 2020, which is a continuation ofU.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/807,213, filed Nov. 8, 2017, nowU.S. Pat. No. 10,793,375, issued Oct. 6, 2020, which claims priority toU.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/418,973, filed Nov. 8,2016, the entire disclosures of which are hereby incorporated byreference in their entireties.

BACKGROUND

The invention generally relates to automated, robotic and othersortation and processing systems, and relates in particular to automatedand robotic systems intended for use in environments requiring that avariety of parcels be sorted and/or distributed to several outputdestinations.

Many parcel distribution systems receive parcels in a disorganizedstream that may be provided as individual parcels or parcels aggregatedin groups such as in bags, arriving on any of several differentconveyances, commonly a conveyor, a truck, a pallet, a Gaylord, or abin. Each parcel must then be distributed to the correct destinationcontainer, as determined by identification information associated withthe parcel, which is commonly determined by a label printed on theparcel or on a sticker applied to the parcel. The destination containermay take many forms, such as a bag or a bin.

The sortation of such parcels has traditionally been done, at least inpart, by human workers that scan the parcels, e.g., with a hand-heldbarcode scanner, and then place the parcels at assigned locations. Forexample many order fulfillment operations achieve high efficiency byemploying a process called wave picking. In wave picking, orders arepicked from warehouse shelves and placed at locations (e.g., into bins)containing multiple orders that are sorted downstream. At the sortingstage individual articles are identified, and multi-article orders areconsolidated, for example into a single bin or shelf location, so thatthey may be packed and then shipped to customers. The process of sortingthese articles has traditionally been done by hand. A human sorter picksan article from an incoming bin, finds a barcode on the object, scansthe barcode with a handheld barcode scanner, determines from the scannedbarcode the appropriate bin or shelf location for the article, and thenplaces the article in the so-determined bin or shelf location where allarticles for that order have been defined to belong. Automated systemsfor order fulfillment have also been proposed. See for example, U.S.Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0244026, which discloses the useof a robotic arm together with an arcuate structure that is movable towithin reach of the robotic arm.

Other ways of identifying items by code scanning either require manualprocessing, or require that the code location be controlled orconstrained so that a fixed or robot-held code scanner (e.g., barcodescanner) can reliably detect it. Manually operated barcode scanners aregenerally either fixed or handheld systems. With fixed systems, such asthose used at point-of-sale systems, the operator holds the article andplaces it in front of the scanner so that the barcode faces the scanningdevice's sensors, and the scanner, which scans continuously, decodes anybarcodes that it can detect. If the article is not immediately detected,the person holding the article typically needs to vary the position orrotation of the object in front of the fixed scanner, so as to make thebarcode more visible to the scanner. For handheld systems, the personoperating the scanner looks for the barcode on the article, and thenholds the scanner so that the article's barcode is visible to thescanner, and then presses a button on the handheld scanner to initiate ascan of the barcode.

Further, many current distribution center sorting systems generallyassume an inflexible sequence of operations whereby a disorganizedstream of input objects is first singulated into a single stream ofisolated objects presented one at a time to a scanner that identifiesthe object. An induction element or elements (e.g., a conveyor, a tilttray, or manually movable bins) transport the objects to the desireddestination or further processing station, which may be a bin, a chute,a bag or a conveyor etc.

In conventional parcel sortation systems, human workers or automatedsystems typically retrieve parcels in an arrival order, and sort eachparcel or object into a collection bin based on a set of givenheuristics. For instance, all objects of like type might go to acollection bin, or all objects in a single customer order, or allobjects destined for the same shipping destination, etc. The humanworkers or automated systems are required to receive objects and to moveeach to their assigned collection bin. If the number of different typesof input (received) objects is large, a large number of collection binsis required.

Such a system has inherent inefficiencies as well as inflexibilitiessince the desired goal is to match incoming objects to assignedcollection bins. Such systems may require a large number of collectionbins (and therefore a large amount of physical space, large capitalcosts, and large operating costs) in part, because sorting all objectsto all destinations at once is not always most efficient.

Current state-of-the-art sortation systems rely on human labor to someextent. Most solutions rely on a worker that is performing sortation, byscanning an object from an induction area (chute, table, etc.) andplacing the object in a staging location, conveyor, or collection bin.When a bin is full or the controlling software system decides that itneeds to be emptied, another worker empties the bin into a bag, box, orother container, and sends that container on to the next processingstep. Such a system has limits on throughput (i.e., how fast can humanworkers sort to or empty bins in this fashion) and on number of diverts(i.e., for a given bin size, only so many bins may be arranged to bewithin efficient reach of human workers).

Other partially automated sortation systems involve the use ofrecirculating conveyors and tilt trays, where the tilt trays receiveobjects by human sortation, and each tilt tray moves past a scanner.Each object is then scanned and moved to a pre-defined location assignedto the object. The tray then tilts to drop the object into the location.Other systems that include tilt trays may involve scanning an object(e.g., using a tunnel scanner), dropping the object into a tilt tray,associating the object with the specific tilt tray using a knownlocation or position, for example, using beam breaks, and then causingthe tilt tray to drop the object when it is at the desired location.

Further, partially automated systems, such as the bomb-bay stylerecirculating conveyor, involve having trays open doors on the bottom ofeach tray at the time that the tray is positioned over a predefinedchute, and the object is then dropped from the tray into the chute.Again, the objects are scanned while in the tray, which assumes that anyidentifying code is visible to the scanner.

Such partially automated systems are lacking in key areas. As noted,these conveyors have discrete trays that can be loaded with an object;the trays then pass through scan tunnels that scan the object andassociate it with the tray in which it is riding. When the tray passesthe correct bin, a trigger mechanism causes the tray to dump the objectinto the bin. A drawback with such systems however, is that every divertrequires an actuator, which increases the mechanical complexity and thecost per divert can be very high.

An alternative is to use human labor to increase the number of diverts,or collection bins, available in the system. This decreases systeminstallation costs, but increases the operating costs. Multiple cellsmay then work in parallel, effectively multiplying throughput linearlywhile keeping the number of expensive automated diverts at a minimum.Such diverts do not ID an object and cannot divert it to a particularspot, but rather they work with beam breaks or other sensors to seek toensure that indiscriminate bunches of objects get appropriatelydiverted. The lower cost of such diverts coupled with the low number ofdiverts keep the overall system divert cost low.

Unfortunately, these systems don't address the limitations to totalnumber of system bins. The system is simply diverting an equal share ofthe total objects to each parallel manual cell. Thus each parallelsortation cell must have all the same collection bin designations;otherwise an object might be delivered to a cell that does not have abin to which that object is mapped. There remains a need for a moreefficient and more cost effective object sortation system that sortsobjects of a variety of sizes and weights into appropriate collectionbins or trays of fixed sizes, yet is efficient in handling objects ofsuch varying sizes and weights.

SUMMARY

In accordance with an embodiment, the invention provides a processingsystem for processing objects. The processing system includes aperception system for providing perception data regarding an object, anda primary transport system for providing transport of the object along aprimary direction toward a processing location that is identified basedon the perception data.

In accordance with another embodiment, the invention provides a systemfor providing processing of objects. The system includes a singulationsystem for providing a singulated stream of objects, and a perceptionsystem for receiving the singulated stream of objects, and forgenerating perception data for providing processing of the objects.

In accordance with another embodiment, the invention provides a methodof providing processing of objects. The method includes the steps ofproviding perception data regarding an object, and transporting theobject along a primary direction toward a processing location that isidentified based on the perception data.

In accordance with a further embodiment, the invention provides a methodof providing processing of objects. The method includes the steps ofproviding a singulated stream of objects, providing perception dataregarding an object, transporting the object along a primary directiontoward a processing location that is identified based on the perceptiondata, and transporting the object from the primary direction into one ofat least two secondary directions based on the perception data.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The following description may be further understood with reference tothe accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 shows an illustrative diagrammatic view of a system in accordancewith an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 shows an illustrative diagrammatic view of a front view of thedrop scanner unit in the system shown in FIG. 1 ;

FIG. 3 shows an illustrative diagrammatic view of a back view of thedrop scanner unit shown in FIG. 1 ;

FIG. 4 shows an illustrative diagrammatic view of a shuttle section inthe system shown in FIG. 1 ;

FIG. 5 shows an illustrative diagrammatic view of the carriage on thetrack adjacent bins in the shuttle section shown in FIG. 4 ;

FIG. 6 shows an illustrative diagrammatic view of the carriage droppingits contents into a bin in the shuttle section shown in FIG. 4 ;

FIG. 7 shows an illustrative diagrammatic top view of a bin in theshuttle section shown in FIG. 4 ;

FIG. 8 shows an illustrative diagrammatic view of system in accordancewith another embodiment of the present invention similar to that shownin FIG. 1 , with the shuttle sections in different orientations;

FIG. 9 shows an illustrative diagrammatic view of system in accordancewith another embodiment of the present invention that includes carriagesfor receiving object from the drop scanner;

FIG. 10 shows an illustrative diagrammatic view of system in accordancewith a further embodiment of the present invention that includes areturn chute for returning selected objects to an input area;

FIG. 11 shows an illustrative diagrammatic view of a system inaccordance with a further embodiment of the present invention thatincludes a return chute and shuttle sections;

FIG. 12 shows an illustrative diagrammatic view of a flowchart showingselected processing steps in a system in accordance with an embodimentof the present invention;

FIG. 13 shows an illustrative diagrammatic view of a flowchart showingbin assignment and management steps in a system in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 14 shows an illustrative diagrammatic view of a gripper thatincludes a sensor system for use in a system in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 15 shows an illustrative diagrammatic view of a sensor systemincluding strain gauges for use in a system in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 16 shows an illustrative diagrammatic top view of a portion of asystem in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 17 shows an illustrative diagrammatic view of a system inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention that includes acircular conveyor;

FIG. 18 shows an illustrative diagrammatic view of a flat item carrierfor use in a system in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 19 shows an illustrative diagrammatic view of the flat item carrierof FIG. 17 shown empty;

FIG. 20 shows an illustrative diagrammatic view of a tubular itemcarrier for use in a system in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention; and

FIG. 21 shows an illustrative diagrammatic view of the tubular itemcarrier of FIG. 20 shown empty.

The drawings are shown for illustrative purposes only.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In accordance with an embodiment, the invention provides a processing(e.g., sortation) system that includes an input system, a singulationsystem, an identification system, and an output system, for the purposeof automatically processing a stream of incoming parcels and sortingthem to the desired output destinations. Individual parcels need to beidentified and conveyed to desired parcel-specific locations. Thedescribed systems reliably automate the identification and conveyance ofsuch parcels, employing in certain embodiments, a set of conveyors andsensors and a robot arm. In short, applicants have discovered that whenautomating the sortation of objects, there are a few main things toconsider: 1) the overall system throughput (parcels sorted per hour), 2)the number of diverts (i.e., number of discrete locations to which anobject can be routed), 3) the total area of the sortation system (squarefeet), 4) sort accuracy, and 5) the capital and annual costs to purchaseand run the system.

Sorting objects in a distribution center is one application forautomatically identifying and sorting parcels. In a shippingdistribution center, parcels commonly arrive in trucks, totes, Gaylordsor other vessels for delivery, are conveyed to sortation stations wherethey are sorted according to desired destinations, aggregated in bags,and then loaded in trucks for transport to the desired destinations.Another application would be in the shipping department of a retailstore or order fulfillment center, which may require that parcels besorted for transport to different shippers, or to different distributioncenters of a particular shipper. In a shipping or distribution centerthe parcels may take form of plastic bags, boxes, tubes, envelopes, orany other suitable container, and in some cases may also include objectsnot in a container. In a shipping or distribution center the desireddestination is commonly obtained by reading identifying informationprinted on the parcel or on an attached label. In this scenario thedestination corresponding to identifying information is commonlyobtained by querying the customer's information system. In otherscenarios the destination may be written directly on the parcel, or maybe known through other means.

In accordance with various embodiments, therefore, the inventionprovides a method of taking individual parcels from a disorganizedstream of parcels, identifying individual parcels, and sorting them todesired destinations. The invention further provides methods for loadingparcels into the system, for conveying parcels from one point to thenext, for excluding inappropriate or unidentifiable parcels, forgrasping parcels, for determining grasp locations, for determining robotmotion trajectories, for transferring parcels from one conveyor toanother, for aggregating parcels and transferring to output conveyors,for digital communication within the system and with outside informationsystems, for communication with human operators and maintenance staff,and for maintaining a safe environment.

Important components of an automated parcel identification and sortationsystem, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, areshown in FIG. 1 . FIG. 1 shows a system 10 that includes an infeedhopper 12 into which objects 14 may be dumped, e.g., by a dumper orGaylord. An infeed conveyor 16 conveys objects from the infeed hopper 12to primary conveyor 20. The infeed conveyor 16 may include baffles 18 orcleats for assisting in lifting the objects 14 from the hopper 12 onto aprimary conveyor 20. Primary perception system 22 surveys the objects 14to identify objects when possible and to determine good grasp points.Robot arm 24 with gripper 26 grips objects and drops them over asecondary perception system 28 (for example, a drop scanner). Objectsthat cannot be grasped or are otherwise unacceptable continue alongprimary conveyor 20 and fall into primary exception bin 30.

The secondary perception 28, as well as the primary perception system22, may be supported by any known means, e.g., by stands or may besuspended from above. As further shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 , the secondaryperception system 28 may include a structure 42 having a top opening 44and a bottom opening 46, and may be covered by an enclosing material 48,e.g., a colored covering such as orange plastic, to protect humans frompotentially dangerously bright lights within the secondary perceptionsystem. The structure 42 includes a plurality of rows of sources (e.g.,illumination sources such as LEDs) 50 as well as a plurality of imageperception units (e.g., cameras) 52. The sources 50 are provided inrows, and each is directed toward the center of the opening. Theperception units 52 are also generally directed toward the opening,although some cameras are directed horizontally, while others aredirected upward, and some are directed downward. The system 28 alsoincludes an entry source (e.g., infrared source) 54 as well as an entrydetector (e.g., infrared detector) 56 for detecting when an object hasentered the perception system 28. The LEDs and cameras thereforeencircle the inside of the structure 42, and the cameras are positionedto view the interior via windows that may include a glass or plasticcovering (e.g., 58).

An important aspect of systems of certain embodiments of the presentinvention, is the ability to identify via barcode or other visualmarkings (e.g., as shown at 15 in FIG. 6 and at 210 in FIG. 18 ) ofobjects by employing a perception system into which objects may bedropped. Automated scanning systems would be unable to see barcodes onobjects that are presented in a way that their barcodes are not exposedor visible. The perception system may be used in certain embodiments,with a robotic system that may include a robotic arm equipped withsensors and computing, that when combined is assumed herein to exhibitthe following capabilities: (a) it is able to pick objects up from aspecified class of objects, and separate them from a stream ofheterogeneous objects, whether they are jumbled in a bin, or aresingulated on a motorized or gravity conveyor system; (b) it is able tomove the object to arbitrary places within its workspace; (c) it is ableto place objects in an outgoing bin or shelf location in its workspace;and, (d) it is able to generate a map of objects that it is able topick, represented as a candidate set of grasp points in the workcell,and as a list of polytopes enclosing the object in space.

The allowable objects are determined by the capabilities of the roboticsystem. Their size, weight and geometry are assumed to be such that therobotic system is able to pick, move and place them. These may be anykind of ordered goods, packages, parcels, or other articles that benefitfrom automated sorting. Each object is associated with a particular codeor other processing indicia, e.g., a universal product code (UPC) suchas shown at 15 in FIG. 6 , that identifies the object, or a mail labelthat identifies a desired destination such as shown at 210 in FIG. 18 .

The manner in which inbound objects arrive may be for example, in one oftwo configurations: (a) inbound objects arrive piled in bins ofheterogeneous objects; or (b) inbound articles arrive by a movingconveyor. The collection of objects includes some that have exposed barcodes and other objects that do not have exposed bar codes. The roboticsystem is assumed to be able to pick items from the bin or conveyor. Thestream of inbound objects is the sequence of objects as they areunloaded either from the bin or the conveyor.

The manner in which outbound objects are organized is such that objectsare placed in a bin, shelf location or cubby, into which all objectscorresponding to a given order are consolidated. These outbounddestinations may be arranged in vertical arrays, horizontal arrays,grids, or some other regular or irregular manner, but which arrangementis known to the system. The robotic pick and place system is assumed tobe able to place objects into all of the outbound destinations, and thecorrect outbound destination is determined from the identifying code orprocessing indicia.

It is assumed that the objects are marked in one or more places on theirexterior with a visually distinctive mark such as a barcode (e.g.,providing a UPC code) or radio-frequency identification (RFID) tag ormailing label so that they may be sufficiently identified with a scannerfor processing. The type of marking depends on the type of scanningsystem used, but may include 1D or 2D barcode symbologies. Multiplesymbologies or labeling approaches may be employed. The types ofscanners employed are assumed to be compatible with the markingapproach. The marking, e.g., by barcode, RFID tag, mailing label orother means, encodes a symbol string, which is typically a string ofletters and numbers. The symbol string uniquely associates the objectwith a set of processing instructions.

The operations of the systems described above are coordinated by thecentral control system 40 as shown in FIGS. 1, 8-11 and 17 . This systemdetermines from symbol strings the UPC associated with an object, aswell as the outbound destination for the object. The central controlsystem is comprised of one or more workstations or central processingunits (CPUs). For example, the correspondence between UPCs or mailinglabels, and outbound destinations is maintained by the central controlsystem in a database called a manifest. The central control systemmaintains the manifest by communicating with a warehouse managementsystem (WMS).

During operation, the broad flow of work may be generally as follows.First, the system is equipped with a manifest that provides the outbounddestination for each inbound object. Next, the system waits for inboundobjects to arrive either in a bin or on a conveyor. The robotic systemmay pick one item at a time from the input bin, and may drop each iteminto the perception system discussed above. If the perception systemsuccessfully recognizes a marking on the object, then the object is thenidentified and forwarded to a sorting station or other processingstation. If the object is not identified, the robotic system may eitherreplace the object back onto the input conveyor and try again, or theconveyor may divert the object to a human sortation bin to be reviewedby a human.

The sequence of locations and orientations of the perception units 52are chosen so as to minimize the average or maximum amount of time thatscanning takes, as well as to maximize the probability of successfulscans. Again, if the object cannot be identified, the object may betransferred to a special outbound destination for unidentified objects,or it may be returned to the inbound stream. This entire procedureoperates in a loop until all of the objects in the inbound set aredepleted. The objects in the inbound stream are automaticallyidentified, sorted, and routed to outbound destinations.

In accordance with an embodiment therefore, the invention provides asystem for sorting objects that arrive in inbound bins and that need tobe placed into a shelf of outbound bins, where sorting is to be based ona unique identifier symbol. Key specializations in this embodiment arethe specific design of the perception system so as to maximize theprobability of a successful scan, while simultaneously minimizing theaverage scan time. The probability of a successful scan and the averagescan time make up key performance characteristics. These key performancecharacteristics are determined by the configuration and properties ofthe perception system, as well as the object set and how they aremarked.

The two key performance characteristics may be optimized for a givenitem set and method of barcode labeling. Parameters of the optimizationfor a barcode system include how many barcode scanners, where and inwhat orientation to place them, and what sensor resolutions and fieldsof view for the scanners to use. Optimization can be done through trialand error, or by simulation with models of the object.

Optimization through simulation employs a barcode scanner performancemodel. A barcode scanner performance model is the range of positions,orientations and barcode element size that a barcode symbol can bedetected and decoded by the barcode scanner, where the barcode elementsize is the size of the smallest feature on the barcode. These aretypically rated at a minimum and maximum range, a maximum skew angle, amaximum pitch angle, and a minimum and maximum tilt angle.

Typical performance for camera-based barcode scanners are that they areable to detect barcode symbols within some range of distances as long asboth pitch and skew of the plane of the symbol are within the range ofplus or minus 45 degrees, while the tilt of the symbol can be arbitrary(between 0 and 360 degrees). The barcode scanner performance modelpredicts whether a given barcode symbol in a given position andorientation will be detected.

The barcode scanner performance model is coupled with a model of wherebarcodes would expect to be positioned and oriented. A barcode symbolpose model is the range of all positions and orientations, in otherwords poses, in which a barcode symbol will expect to be found. For thescanner, the barcode symbol pose model is itself a combination of anarticle gripping model, which predicts how objects will be held by therobotic system, as well as a barcode-item appearance model, whichdescribes the possible placements of the barcode symbol on the object.For the scanner, the barcode symbol pose model is itself a combinationof the barcode-item appearance model, as well as an inbound-object posemodel, which models the distribution of poses over which inboundarticles are presented to the scanner. These models may be constructedempirically, modeled using an analytical model, or approximate modelsmay be employed using simple sphere models for objects and a uniformdistribution over the sphere as a barcode-item appearance model.

With reference again to FIG. 1 , objects 14 passing through thesecondary perception unit 28 fall onto secondary conveyor 32. Diverters34 divert objects to shuttle sections 36 as appropriate. While only twosuch diverters and shuttle sections are shown, any number of suchdiverters and shuttle sections may be used. Unidentified objects orotherwise unacceptable objects continue along secondary conveyor 32 andfall into secondary exception bin 38. The diverters 34 are incommunication with the controller 40, which is in communication with thescanner 28 as well as the indexing position of the conveyor 32. Once anobject falls through the scanner and lands of the conveyor, the systemnotes the conveyor position of the object. The scanner information isprocessed, and the object (if identified) is associated with thatconveyor location, and its processing location is identified (asdiscussed in more detail below). As the conveyor advances, the systemwill know when the object is in the line of activation of a selecteddiverter, and will activate the diverter to push the object into theappropriate carriage. The carriage then moves the object to the assignedbin as discussed in more detail below. In various embodiments, thediverters may push an object off through various other ways, such asusing a robot or a diverting guide, and in further embodiments, thediverters may pull an object off of the conveyor.

As further shown with reference to FIG. 4 , each shuttle section 36incudes a carriage 60 that shuttles back and forth between destinationchutes 62 that include guide walls 65 that lead to two rows of bins 68,70 on either side of a track 64. As further shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 (withthe guide walls 65 removed for clarity), the carriage 60 travels alongthe track 64 and carries objects to a desired destination bin 68, 70,and tilts, dropping the object 14 into the desired destination bin asshown in FIG. 6 . The guide walls serve to guide the object as it fallsso that the object does not accidently drop into a neighboring bin. Asfurther shown in FIG. 7 , each bin (68 or 70) may include one or morepairs of emitters 61 and sensors 63 at the top of the bin. Output from asensor 63 that is representative of a prolonged interruption from theassociated source, may be used to determine that the bin is full.

Again, a central computing and control station 40 communicates withother computers distributed in the other components, and alsocommunicates with the customer information system, provides a userinterface, and coordinates all processes. As further shown in FIG. 4 ,each processing bin 62 of each shuttle section 36 may include a pull outdrawer 66 from which each of the two opposing processing bins (e.g., 68,70) may be accessed and emptied. Each pull-out drawer 66 may alsoinclude light indicators 72 to indicate when the processing bin (e.g.,68) is either full or is ready to be emptied based on system heuristics,e.g., that the bin is statistically unlikely to receive another objectsoon. In other embodiments, such lights may be positioned above therespective bin. Each drawer may also include a lock 67 that a personmust unlock to pull out the drawer 66. The lock includes sensors thatcommunicate with the controller 40, and when a drawer is unlocked, thesystem knows not to sort to either bin in the unlocked drawer. This way,the system may continue operating while drawers are pulled and bins areemptied.

FIG. 8 shows a system 100′ similar to that shown in FIG. 1 (where theidentical components have the same reference numbers), except that theshuttle sections 36′ of FIG. 8 are positioned alongside (parallel with)the conveyor 32′. In particular, a first diverter 34′ may push an objectinto a carriage 60′ at one end of a shuttle section 36′, while a seconddiverter 34″ may push an object into a carriage 60″ in the middle of ashuttle section 36″. In accordance with further embodiments, manydifferent arrangements are possible, and each is within the spirit andscope of the present invention. Each drawer 66′ and 66″ may lock asdiscussed above, and the indicator lights 72′, 72″ may be located abovethe drawers 66′, 66″.

Similarly, the diverters 34′, 34″ are in communication with thecontroller 40, which is in communication with the scanner 28 as well asthe indexing position of the conveyor 32′. Again, in variousembodiments, the diverters may push an object off through various otherways, such as using a robot or a diverting guide, and in furtherembodiments, the diverters may pull an object off of the conveyor. Oncean object falls through the scanner and lands off the conveyor, thesystem notes the conveyor position of the object. The scannerinformation is processed, and the object (if identified) is associatedwith that conveyor location, and its processing location is identified(as discussed in more detail below). Again, as the conveyor advances,the system will know when the object is in the line of activation of aselected diverter, and will activate the diverter to push the objectinto the appropriate carriage. The carriage then moves the object to theassigned bin as discussed in more detail below.

In accordance with further embodiments of the invention and as shown inFIG. 9 , a system 80 may include a track 82 along which carriages 84 maytravel in one direction toward a plurality of processing bins 86. Theremaining items of the system 80 having reference numerals in commonwith the system of FIG. 1 are the same as those of the system of FIG. 1. Each carriage 84 may be dynamically programmed to dump its containedobject 14 into an assigned processing bin 86 based on an assignedsortation scheme.

In accordance with a further embodiment of the present invention and asshown in FIG. 10 , a system 90 may provide that a portion of the inputstream 92 is selectively adjusted by the robotic arm 24 to provide asinglated stream of objects (as may be detected and confirmed by aperception unit 94). In particular objects are identified by the primaryperception unit 22 as being selected for removal (simply to provide asingulated stream of objects), and the robotic arm 24 is engaged toselectively remove objects from the input stream to create thesingulated stream of objects. In further embodiments, diverters asdiscussed above may be used for this purpose. The removed objects areplaced by the robotic arm onto a return chute 96 that returns theselected objects to the input bin 12. Such recirculation is for thepurpose of providing the singulated stream of objects. Significantly, asingulated stream of objects is provided (as shown at 92), and thissingulated stream of objects may be delivered to a perception unit 28(as discussed above) as a singulated stream without requiring that arobotic system place objects into the perception unit 28. If an objectis not identified or is otherwise not able to be processed, it may fallto an exception bin 38 as discussed above, and be returned to arecirculation area or hand processed by a person.

The assignment of processing bins may also be dynamic. For example,systems in accordance with further embodiments, provide improvedtransport and conveyor systems, and provide programmable roboticmanipulators in particular, that allow dynamically changing patterns ofobject handling, with resulting efficiencies in the sortation process,lower space requirements, lower demand for manual operations, and as aconsequence, lower capital and operating costs for the entire system.FIG. 11 shows a system 100 similar to the system of FIG. 1 (using thesame reference numerals as used in FIG. 1 to identify the same items.The system 100 further includes a return chute 96 (as in the system 90of FIG. 10 ) that returns selected items to the input hopper 12 toprovide the singulated stream of objects.

During use, the sorting station may select an object and then identifythe selected object by the perception system 22 (or may detect anidentity of an object using a scanner on the articulated arm, or may usethe robotic arm to move the object to a detection device). In furtherembodiments, the robotic arm may even hold an object in the perceptionsystem 28 for object identification only. If the object has an assignedbin or a new bin is available, then the end effector will drop theobject through the perception system; otherwise the robotic arm willpull the object from the perception system 28 and place it on the returnchute 96. The system assigns a bin to the object if a new bin isavailable and the object is not yet assigned a bin at that sortingstation. What is significant is that the sorting station is notpre-assigned a large set of collection bins assigned to all possibleobjects that may appear in the input path. Further, the centralcontroller may employ a wide variety of heuristics that may furthershape the process of dynamically assigning objects to collection bins asdiscussed in more detail below. Once bins are either filled or otherwisecompleted, the completed bins are signaled as being done and ready forfurther processing (e.g., by lights 72 associated with bin 68 in FIG. 4).

As shown in FIG. 12 , a sortation process of the invention at a sortingstation may begin (step 400) by having a robotic system select a newobject from the input stream and drop the new object into the dropscanner (step 402). The system then identifies the new object (step404). The system then will determine whether the object is yet assignedto any collection bin (step 406). If not, the system will determinewhether a next bin is available (step 408). If no next bin is available(step 410), the robotic system will return the object to the inputbuffer (step 410) and return to step 402. Alternatively, the system canpick one of the collection bins that is in process and decide that itcan be emptied to be reused for the object in hand, at which point thecontrol system can empty the collection bin or signal a human worker todo so. If a next bin is available (and the system may permit any numberof bins per station), the system will then assign the object to a nextbin (step 412). The system then places the object into the assigned bin(step 414). The system then returns to step 402 until finished. Again,in certain embodiments, the secondary conveyor may be an indexedconveyor that moves in increments each time an object is dropped ontothe conveyor. The system may then register the identity of the object,access a warehouse manifest, and determine an assigned bin location orassign a new bin location.

A process of the overall control system is shown, for example, in FIG.13 . The overall control system may begin (step 500) by permitting a newcollection bin at each station to be assigned to a group of objectsbased on overall system parameters (step 502) as discussed in moredetail below. The system then identifies assigned bins correlated withobjects at each station (step 504), and updates the number of objects ateach bin at each station (step 506). The system then determines thatwhen a bin is either full or the system expects that the associatedsorting station is unlikely to see another object associated with thebin, the associated sorting station robotic system will then place thecompleted bin onto an output conveyor, or signal a human worker to comeand empty the bin (step 508), and then return to step 502.

Systems of various embodiments provide numerous advantages because ofthe inherent dynamic flexibility. The flexible correspondence betweensorter outputs and destinations provides that there may be fewer sorteroutputs than destinations, so the entire system may require less space.The flexible correspondence between sorter outputs and destinations alsoprovides that the system may choose the most efficient order in which tohandle objects, in a way that varies with the particular mix of objectsand downstream demand. The system is also easily scalable, by addingsorters, and more robust since the failure of a single sorter might behandled dynamically without even stopping the system. It should bepossible for sorters to exercise discretion in the order of objects,favoring objects that need to be handled quickly, or favoring objectsfor which the given sorter may have a specialized gripper.

In accordance with certain embodiments, therefore, the system provides asortation system that employs a buffer at the infeed stage enablingscalable and flexible induction of objects into the system. The buffermay include a single conveyor, a circulating conveyor or multipleconveyors, possibly to separate disorganized objects from organizedobjects. In further embodiments, the invention provides a sortationsystem employing a plurality of sorters flexibly connected to bothupstream and downstream processes. The system may also employ a flexibledestination stage, including a process for dynamically changing thecorrespondence of sorter outputs and system destinations using a switchbased on heuristics from the sortation process. The system maydynamically map sorter outputs to system destinations based on long-termhistorical usage trends and statistics, or items already processed, orcurrent contents of other dynamically allocated sorter outputs, oraverage, minimum or maximum time-to-sort associated with each sorteroutput, or physical characteristics of the items sorted, or aprioriinformation, or known future deliveries, or location within a facility,including the physical location relative to other allocated sorteroutputs (e.g., above, beside, on or nearby), or incoming shipments, aswell as knowing what items are currently upstream of the sortationprocess and combinations of the above. Further, systems of embodimentsof the invention provide that information regarding correspondencebetween sorter outputs to system destinations may be provided to anautomated system for sorting.

By making use of heuristics, the mapping of sorter outputs to systemdestinations can be improved substantially over traditional fixedallocation. Destinations may be assigned on the fly, reducing wastedspace from unused sorter outputs and decreasing the time it takes toprocess incoming objects. Long-term historic trends may be used toallocate sorter outputs when the next incoming group of objects iseither in-part or entirely unknown. Historical usage patterns provideinsight into when objects bound for certain destinations can be expectedto arrive, the number of objects bound for each destination expected forany given time, and the probable physical properties of these incomingobjects.

The system provides in a specific embodiment an input system thatinterfaces to the customer's conveyors and containers, stores parcelsfor feeding into the system, and feeds those parcels into the system ata moderate and controllable rate. In one embodiment, the interface tothe customer's process takes the form of a Gaylord dumper, but manyother embodiments are possible. In one embodiment, feeding into thesystem is by an inclined cleated conveyor with overhead baffles. A keyto the efficient operation of the system is to feed parcels in at amodest controlled rate. Many options are available, including variationsin the conveyor slope and speed, the presence, size and structure ofcleats and baffles, and the use of sensors to monitor and control thefeed rate.

The system includes in a specific embodiment a primary perception systemthat monitors the stream of parcels on the primary conveyor. Wherepossible the primary perception system may identify the parcel to speedor simplify subsequent operations. For example, knowledge of the parcelson the primary conveyor may enable the system to make better choices onwhether to pick up a parcel rather than let it pass to the exceptionbin, which parcels to pick up first, or on how to allocate output bins.The main job of the primary perception system is to identify andprioritize grasp points. The appropriate methods for choosing grasppoints vary with the gripper and with the object. In one embodiment, avacuum gripper may be in use, and the best grasp point might be a largeenough flat spot, with the gripper axis aligned with the surface normal.With other types of grippers other features will be chosen. Inaccordance with one embodiment, the primary perception system classifiesthe type of parcel so that the grasping process parameters best suitedto that parcel type may be employed.

As noted above, there are many ways to grasp objects, including vacuumgrippers, tongs, enveloping soft grippers, and electrostatic grippers.It is also possible not to use a conventional grasp, and instead to pushthe parcel across the conveyor, for example, into a perception unit(e.g., unit 28). In one embodiment a vacuum gripper is instrumented withpressure and force sensors, enabling the gripper to detect the onset ofgrasp, to detect eminent grasp failures, to estimate the quality of agrasp, to estimate the parcel weight and weight distribution, enablingmore effective choices in subsequent motion planning. For example, FIG.14 shows a grasping end effector system for use in accordance with anembodiment of the invention that includes an articulated arm 110 towhich is attached an end effector bellows 112, which may be a tubular orconical shaped bellows. The end effector also includes a sensor 114 thatincludes an attachment band 116 on the bellows, as well as a bracket 118attached to magnetic field sensor 114, and a magnet 122 that is mountedon the articulated arm 110. The bellows may move in any of threedirections, e.g., toward and away from the articulated arm as showndiagrammatically at A, in directions transverse to the direction A asshown at B, and directions partially transverse to the direction A asshown at C. The magnetic field sensor 114 may communicate (e.g.,wirelessly) with a controller 120, which may also communicate with aflow monitor 124 to determine whether a high flow grasp of an object issufficient for continued grasp and transport as discussed further below.In an embodiment, for example, the system may return the object if theair flow is insufficient to carry the load, or may increase the air flowto safely maintain the load.

With reference to FIG. 15 , the end effector system in accordance with afurther embodiment of the invention may include the articulated arm 110and a bellows 112, as well as strain-gauges 130, 132 (four may be usedalthough two are shown), that couple the end effector to the roboticarm. The strain gauges may be connected to an on-board controller thatis in communication with the controller 120, which may also communicatewith a flow monitor 124 to determine whether a high flow grasp of anobject is sufficient for continued grasp and transport as discussedfurther below.

In accordance with one embodiment the invention includes a robot armcapable of moving the gripper, along with the grasped parcel, from theinitial position on the primary conveyor to a point directly above thedrop scanner. Desirable motions should be smooth in order to avoiddrops, and fast for overall throughput. In one embodiment the motionsare optimized to maintain a good grasp, despite a wide range of parceltypes, sizes, weights, and weight distributions. In one embodiment themotion is constrained to prevent shock that may occur when a looselyfilled bag becomes taut. In one embodiment the motion is chosen andmodulated in real time in accord with evolving estimates of parcelweight, weight distribution, or grasp quality.

For example, in accordance with various embodiments, the inventionprovides a robotic system that may learn object grasp locations fromexperience and human guidance. Most robotic systems designed to localizeobjects and pick them up rely on a suite of sensors to give the systeminformation about the location, size, pose, and even identity of anobject. Such systems designed to work in the same environments as humanworkers will face an enormous variety of objects, poses, etc. The 2D/3Dimagery in conjunction with the human-selected grasp points can be usedas input to machine learning algorithms, to help the robotic systemlearn how to deal with such cases in the future, thereby reducing theneed for operator assistance over time. A combination of 2D and 3D(depth) data is acquired, the system uses this imagery and a variety ofalgorithms to generate a set of candidate grasp points for the objectsin the bin.

In addition to geometric information the system may learn the locationof fiducial markers such as barcodes on the object, which can be used asindicator for a surface patch that is flat and impermeable, hencesuitable for a suction cup. One such example is shipping boxes and bags,which tend to have the shipping label at the object's center of mass andprovide an impermeable surface, as opposed to the raw bag material whichmight be slightly porous and hence not present a good grasp. Inaccordance with further examples, the fiducial marker itself may not bethe target, but may provide a reference for finding a target grasplocation. Once a product is identified and its orientation is known forexample, a certain distance (e.g., x, y) from a fiducial marker may beused as an optimal grasp location.

The robotic system may employ motion planning using a trajectorydatabase that is dynamically updated over time, and is indexed bycustomer metrics. The problem domains contain a mix of changing andunchanging components in the environment. For example, the objects thatare presented to the system are often presented in randomconfigurations, but the target locations into which the objects are tobe placed are often fixed and do not change over the entire operation.

One use of the trajectory database is to exploit the unchanging parts ofthe environment by pre-computing and saving into a database trajectoriesthat efficiently and robustly move the system through these spaces.Another use of the trajectory database is to constantly improve theperformance of the system over the lifetime of its operation. Thedatabase communicates with a planning server that is continuouslyplanning trajectories from the various starts to the various goals, tohave a large and varied set of trajectories for achieving any particulartask.

FIG. 16 for example, shows a diagrammatic view of a robotic sortationsystem that includes a primary conveyor 20 for providing objects 14 froman input hopper 12 via a cleated conveyor 16 as discussed above. Theprimary conveyor 20 provides the objects to a robot access area, wherethe robot 24 including an end effector 26 may engage the objects andprovide them to a secondary perception system 28 (e.g., a drop scanner).The primary perception system (22 of FIG. 1 ) is not shown for clarity.The scanned objects are then dropped to the secondary conveyor 32 asdiscussed above.

The robotic system may include a defined home or base location 140 towhich each object may initially be brought upon acquisition from theprimary conveyor. The trajectories taken by the articulated arm of therobot system from the conveyor to the base location 140 are constantlychanging based in part, on the location of each object on the conveyor,the orientation of the object on the conveyor, and the shape, weight andother physical properties of the object to be acquired.

Once the articulated arm has acquired an object and is positioned at thebase location, the paths to the drop scanner are not changing. For atrajectory that is not changing, the shortest distance is a direct pathto the target processing or destination bin, but the articulated arm iscomprised of articulated sections, joints, motors etc. that providespecific ranges of motion, speeds, accelerations and decelerations.Because of this, the robotic system may take any of a variety oftrajectories between, for example, base location 140 and the dropscanner 28.

As also discussed above, the system includes in a specific embodiment adrop scanner that scans objects dropped through it, reads bar codes,confirms that an object is correctly singulated, and obtains the desiredprocessing bin. Other embodiments are possible, including use of aconventional scan tunnel, or relying entirely on primary perception toidentify objects. Another embodiment would include a recirculatingprimary conveyor, in which objects not identified on the first passmight be recirculated, perhaps by falling back into the infeed.

FIG. 17 shows a system in accordance with a further embodiment of theinvention that is similar to that of FIG. 8 (and wherein commonreference numerals reference common items), except that the conveyor 220is provided as a circular conveyor, providing that the objects (e.g.,202) may remain on the conveyor once placed thereon. The system may alsoinclude flat item carriers 204 for holding flat items 206 as shown inFIG. 18 . Certain detection systems using the primary perception system22 may have difficulty detecting the presence on the conveyor of asolitary flat item, such as an envelope. Such flat items may also havedifficulty being drawn up the infeed conveyor 16. In accordance withcertain embodiments therefore, flat item carriers 204 may be used, andsuch flat items 206 may be stacked on a carrier 204 as shown in FIG. 18, for example, against a pair of adjoining walls 208. A human mayprovide this stacking, and may place the carrier(s) onto the conveyor220 at a station 222.

When the flat item carrier 204 comes into view of the primary perceptionsystem, the walls 208 of the carrier 204 should aid in detection, andthe system will identify the object by indicia 210, and grasp the topobject on the stack. Each time the carrier travels around the conveyor220, another top object is removed and processed. When the carrier isempty (as shown in FIG. 19 ), a unique symbol 212 at the bottom of thecarrier 204 may indicate to the system that the carrier is empty, andempty carriers so identified may be removed by the end effector 26 anddropped into an empty carrier bin 224. Empty carriers may also beremoved by a human, e.g., at station 222, and any non-processableobjects 226 may be so removed as well.

FIGS. 20 and 21 show a carrier 210 for handling cylindrical items 212,214, which may either fit within the carrier 210, or may stick out ofthe carrier 210. Either way, the carrier 210 may maintain thecylindrical item on the conveyor 20. The carrier 210 may also includeunique symbol 216 similar to the symbol 212 in FIG. 19 for communicatingto the system that the carrier is empty, and may be processed asdiscussed above. In such a system, if a conveyor such as 32 shown inFIG. 1 is used, guide walls may be positioned along the conveyor 32.

The systems therefore, include in certain embodiments a primarytransport system that transports singulated and identified parcelstowards the output. In one embodiment the primary transport is aconveyor belt with dividers to preserve singulation. The conveyor beltis indexed one position at a time, positioning parcels for transfer to asecondary transport system. Parcels are transferred by a diverter whichpushes them across the conveyor to the secondary transport. When asingulation or identification failure occurs, the parcel remains onsecondary transport and falls into the secondary exception bin. Otherembodiments are possible, for example a cross-belt system, a slidingshoe diverter system, or a tilt-tray system.

The system also includes in a specific embodiment a secondary transportsystem which carries parcels to the processing bins. In one embodimentthe secondary transport is a reciprocating shuttle which travelslinearly along the tops of two rows of bins, then tilts to one side orthe other to drop the parcel into the desired bin, and then returns to ahome position ready to receive another parcel. Other embodiments arepossible, for example a tilt-tray system, a cross-belt system, or a shoediverter system.

The system includes means to interface to the customer's outgoing parcelconveyance systems. In a specific embodiment the bins are lined withbags. When the bin is full as determined by sensors or by monitoringsystem operation, a human operator pulls the bin out of place, removesthe bag, labels the bag, and places the bag on an appropriate conveyor.Other embodiments are possible, including automatic bagging systems,bins without bags, and bins that are automatically ejected from thesystem and replaced with new bins. In one embodiment the systemcontinues operation during the bagging operation by avoiding inductionof parcels destined for that particular bin, or by allocating adifferent bin for the same destination.

In accordance with a specific embodiment, the invention provides a userinterface that conveys all relevant information to operators,management, and maintenance personnel. In a specific embodiment this mayinclude lights indicating bins that should be bagged, lights indicatingbins not completely returned to position, lights indicating operationalstatus, displays for monitoring the operation of the primary perceptionsystem and the drop scanner, displays monitoring grasping and robotmotion, monitoring of exception bin levels and input hopper level, andoperating mode of the entire system. Additional information includedmight be rate of parcel processing and additional statistics such asexception and error rates. In a specific embodiment the systemautomatically prints bag labels and scans bag labels before the operatorplaces them on the output conveyor.

In accordance with a further embodiment, a system of the inventionincorporates software systems that interface with the customer'sdatabases and other information systems, to provide operationalinformation to the customer's system and to query the customer's systemfor parcel information.

The invention has many variations possible to suit the varyingcharacteristics of the task. The number of bins serviced by a shuttlemay be greater or lesser. The number of shuttles may be increased. Insome embodiments there may be more than one secondary transport system,serving additional sets of shuttles. In other embodiments there may bemore than one robot.

Some applications may not justify the use of a robot, and one embodimentwould then use a human to perform induction. In another embodiment, thesystem might include a conventional unit sortation conveyor such as atilt-tray or cross belt sorter, with the robot performing induction.

In accordance with various embodiments, therefore, the inventionprovides a robotic system for sorting parcels to desired outputdestination bins. The system includes an input system for acceptingparcels from the customer and feeding them into the system; asingulation system to transform the stream of parcels into a sequence ofdiscrete parcels; an identification system to read identifying marks orotherwise determine the desired destination; and an output system forconveying each parcel to a desired processing bin, from which it can beconveyed to the customer's desired destination.

In further embodiments, the infeed system includes an inclined conveyorwith cleats, the infeed system includes an inclined conveyor withbaffles, and/or the infeed system includes a sensor to monitor parcelstream height, breadth or rate, so that the conveyor rate may bemodulated to control parcel rate. In accordance with furtherembodiments, the singulation system includes a primary perception systemto monitor parcels.

In accordance with certain embodiments, the primary perception systemmay determine parcel identity, may determine grasp locations, and/or maydetermine parcel class. In accordance with further embodiments, thesingulation system may include one or more robotic manipulators withgrippers, and one or more of the grippers is a vacuum gripper, thevacuum gripper may be equipped with a pressure sensor, and/or one ormore of the grippers may be equipped with a force sensor. In accordancewith further embodiments, the singulation system may include one or morerobotic manipulators with end effectors suited to pushing, and theidentification system may include one or more parcel scanners toidentify parcels, e.g., a drop scanner.

In accordance with certain embodiments, the output system includes oneor more conveyors which combine to transfer parcels to bins, theconveyors are organized as one or more primary conveyors; with eachprimary conveyor transferring parcels to one or more secondaryconveyors, and/or one or more primary conveyors is a cleated conveyorcapable of indexing one position at a time. In accordance with furtherembodiments, diverters transfer parcels from the primary conveyors tosecondary conveyors, the diverters are linear actuators attached tosweeper diverters, one or more of the conveyors is a reciprocatingshuttle, and/or the reciprocating shuttle includes a tilt axis to dropparcels.

In accordance with further embodiments, the invention provides a methodfor automatically sorting parcels and conveying parcels to desiredoutput destinations. The method includes the steps of feeding thecustomer parcels into the system infeed, conveying the parcels from thesystem infeed to a singulation system, singulating the parcels andmoving them to an identification system, identifying the parcels andtheir associated desired destinations, and conveying each parcel to adesired destination.

In accordance with further embodiments, the infeed conveyor's design andcontrol are optimized to present the parcels in a stream best suited tosubsequent perception and handling, grasp points are determinedautomatically, grasp points are determined from computer visionalgorithms, and/or singulation is accomplished by grasping singleparcels and moving them individually to subsequent processing. Inaccordance with further embodiments, sensor information is used toestimate grasp state including contact with parcel, quality of vacuumseal, parcel weight, parcel mass distribution, and parcel positionrelative to gripper, and/or grasp state estimates are used to determinewhether the grasp is adequate, and to modulate the subsequent motion toavoid drops. In accordance with further embodiments, the robot arm'smotion is determined by motion planning software cognizant of initialand final waypoints, surrounding obstacles, and constraints necessary tomaintain a secure grasp and/or the correspondence of output bins tocustomer destinations are determined dynamically to optimize systemthroughput.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that numerous modifications andvariations may be made to the above disclosed embodiments withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

What is claimed is: 1.-32. (canceled)
 33. A system for processingobjects, said system comprising: a first conveyor that transports adisorganized stream of objects from an input bin along a first directionto a second conveyor, said first direction including a horizontalcomponent and a vertical component leading up to the second conveyor,and the first conveyor including cleats for engaging the objects; arobotic arm with an end effector that is programmed to selectivelyprovide a singulated stream of objects on the second conveyor fortransport along a second direction that is at least in part orthogonalto the horizontal component of the first direction; a perception systemthat generates perception data regarding each object in the singulatedstream of objects received from the second conveyor; and at least onecarriage that transports each object in the singulated stream of objectsin a third direction away from the perception system to any of aplurality of destination locations responsive to the perception data.34. The system as claimed in claim 33, wherein the second conveyor is acleated conveyor.
 35. The system as claimed in claim 34, wherein oneobject is provided in each cleated area of the cleated conveyor.
 36. Thesystem as claimed in claim 33, wherein the singulated stream of objectsis provided on the second conveyor without dividers between the objects.37. The system as claimed in claim 33, where the singulated stream ofobjects is provided on the distribution transport system in a pluralityof carriers.
 38. The system as claimed in claim 37, wherein one objectis provided in each of the plurality of carriers.
 39. The system asclaimed in claim 33, wherein the at least one carriage is provided aspart of a distribution transport system that further includes at leastone diverter unit for diverting objects from the distribution transportsystem.
 40. The system as claimed in claim 39, wherein the distributiontransport system includes a cleated conveyor.
 41. The system as claimedin claim 39, wherein the distribution transport system includes aplurality of diverters for urging objects in directions that aregenerally transverse to the third direction.
 42. The system as claimedin claim 39, wherein the distribution transport system includes aplurality of actuatable carriages.
 43. The system as claimed in claim39, wherein the distribution transport system includes a plurality ofshuttle wings including the plurality of destination locations intowhich objects are directed based on the perception data.
 44. A systemfor processing objects, said system comprising: a first conveyor thattransports a disorganized stream of objects from an input bin along afirst direction to a second conveyor; a robotic arm with an end effectorthat is programmed to selectively provide a singulated stream of objectson the second conveyor for transport along a second direction; aperception system that generates perception data regarding each objectin the singulated stream of objects received from the second conveyor;and at least one first carriage that transports each object in thesingulated stream of objects in a third direction away from theperception system to any of a plurality of destination locationsresponsive to the perception data, said at least one first carriageproviding each object in the singulated stream of objects to a secondcarriage that provides each object to a selected destination location ofthe plurality of destination locations.
 45. The system as claimed inclaim 44, wherein the second conveyor is a cleated conveyor.
 46. Thesystem as claimed in claim 45, wherein one object is provided in eachcleated area of the cleated conveyor.
 47. The system as claimed in claim44, wherein the singulated stream of objects is provided on the secondconveyor without dividers between the objects.
 48. The system as claimedin claim 44, where the singulated stream of objects is provided on thedistribution transport system in a plurality of carriers.
 49. The systemas claimed in claim 48, wherein one object is provided in each of theplurality of carriers.
 50. The system as claimed in claim 44, whereinthe at least one first carriage is provided as part of a distributiontransport system that further includes at least one diverter unit fordiverting objects from the distribution transport system.
 51. The systemas claimed in claim 50, wherein the distribution transport systemincludes a cleated conveyor.
 52. The system as claimed in claim 50,wherein the distribution transport system includes a plurality ofdiverters for urging objects in directions that are generally transverseto the third direction.
 53. The system as claimed in claim 50, whereinthe distribution transport system includes a plurality of actuatablecarriages.
 54. The system as claimed in claim 50, wherein thedistribution transport system includes a plurality of shuttle wingsincluding the plurality of destination locations into which objects aredirected based on the perception data.
 55. A system for processingobjects, said system comprising: a first conveyor that transports adisorganized stream of objects from an input bin along a first directionto a second conveyor; a robotic arm with an end effector that isprogrammed to selectively provide a singulated stream of objects on thesecond conveyor for transport along a second direction; a perceptionsystem including at least one perception unit that generates perceptiondata regarding each object in the singulated stream of objects receivedfrom the second conveyor; and a distribution transport system fortransporting the singulated stream of objects in a third direction fordistribution to any of a plurality of destination locations responsiveto the perception data, wherein the distribution transport systemincludes a plurality of destination wings each including a carriage anda subset of the plurality of destination locations into which eachobject in the singulated stream of objects is directed from the carriagebased on the perception data.
 56. The system as claimed in claim 55,wherein the second conveyor is a cleated conveyor.
 57. The system asclaimed in claim 56, wherein one object is provided in each cleated areaof the cleated conveyor.
 58. The system as claimed in claim 55, whereinthe singulated stream of objects is provided on the second conveyorwithout dividers between the objects.
 59. The system as claimed in claim55, wherein the singulated stream of objects is provided on thedistribution transport system in a plurality of carriers.
 60. The systemas claimed in claim 59, wherein one object is provided in each of theplurality of carriers.
 61. The system as claimed in claim 55, wherein atleast one perception unit among the plurality of perception units is acamera.
 62. The system as claimed in claim 55, wherein at least oneperception unit among the plurality of perception units is a codescanner.
 63. The system as claimed in claim 55, wherein at least oneperception unit among the plurality of perception units is aradio-frequency identification (RFID) tag scanner.
 64. The system asclaimed in claim 55, wherein the distribution transport system includesat least one diverter unit for diverting objects from the distributiontransport system.
 65. The system as claimed in claim 55, wherein thedistribution transport system includes a cleated conveyor.
 66. Thesystem as claimed in claim 55, wherein the distribution transport systemincludes a plurality of diverters for urging objects in directions thatare generally transverse to the third direction.
 67. The system asclaimed in claim 55, wherein the distribution transport system includesa plurality of actuatable carriages.
 68. The system as claimed in claim55, wherein the distribution transport system includes a plurality ofshuttle wings including the plurality of destination locations intowhich objects are directed based on the perception data.